Modern gaming machines found in casinos accept bills, as well as coins, for playing the machine and direct the bills into a cash box inside the machine. Since the preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a cash box for bills only, the background regarding this type of cash box and extraction method will be described. In prior art machines, bills are automatically stacked within the cash box. At certain times, an attendant uses a key to open a door in the gaming machine to gain access to the cash box. The attendant then removes the cash box from the machine, and an empty cash box is then inserted into the gaming machine.
One such cash box is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,330, entitled "Currency Security Box," by Linn McKay and Frank DeSimone, assigned to the present assignee and incorporated herein by reference.
Access to the cash box is typically either from the side of the machine or from the front of the machine. For low gaming machines, such as slant-top machines at which the player sits on a stool, pulling the cash box out of the machine frequently requires the attendant to bend over, which becomes very tiresome after this act has been performed many times. Typically, the cash box is pulled straight out from the machine in a horizontal direction.
What is needed is a cash box assembly which is particularly suited for modern gaming machines and where the cash box is more easily removed from and inserted into the gaming machine.